Martha Stewart knows her meatballs

How do you get your meatballs to blip the radar of Martha Stewart?
She told a recent studio audience that she sent her staff members out and about in New York to taste a basket of meatballs all over the city and report back.
But you don't get meatballs on the Martha Stewart Show solely on the vote of a Stewart staffer.
Ms. Stewart - may I call you Martha? - says she sampled the finalists to select several chefs to prepare their signature meatballs on a show in January.
Good day for me to be in the audience during a recent trip to Manhattan.
We tasted chicken meatballs spiced to present a forkable alternative to the finger licking that accompanies the traditional buffalo wing.
We tasted a family recipe that was nearly as big as a baseball and we tasted a ball with scrumptious cheese injected. OMG. There were no losers.
Sitting in the studio audience of the Martha Stewart Show was a guilty pleasure. I have not an ounce of craftiness in my body. I don't sew. I have no eye for color and design. I can prepare a couple of dinner dishes with limited confidence.
In short, I'm not Martha Stewart.
But darn it, I like her. I like that she is strong and talented and determined and independent and she takes charge and she accepts responsibility.
So, I signed up for a ticket. Easy enough to get. Go to her website - where you also will find information on her new ReMarthable giveaway.
And fill out not just a request but a section about yourself. It's the place the Martha faithful can list their special Martha-esque talents and interests. Despite my lack of any Marthaisms to recount, my ticket request was accepted.
Then a few days later came an e-mail with just a few little instructions. Wear bright colors. Martha likes bright colors, the Audience e-mail confides. OK. Jewel tones. OK. And be on time - which is nearly two hours before showtime. OK. And no photos during filming. OK. And don't haul in your luggage. Ah, those pesky tourists.
What did I learn about Martha Stewart during my few hours in her New York studio? No secrets. No revelations. Just the no-nonsense, all-business Martha Stewart we all see every day.
And that's what I came for. That and the meatballs.
And a cookbook. And a can of olive oil I wasn't sure I could get home in my checked travel bag. But I did.
Nothing short of ReMarthable.

Expecting a super Super Bowl?

Ah, the Super Bowl.
College football has been on hiatus a month. Wrestling is under way. Basketballs are pounding the hardwood. Major League Baseball players are thinking about packing for camp.
It must be Super Bowl time.
Green Bay? Pittsburgh? We'll know Sunday night.
Millions of people will tune in - most for the game, some for the commercials.
While you are watching football with all those millions of people, think of this. More people read newspapers than will be watching the Super Bowl Sunday night.

Cold enough for you?

Did Congress repeal global warming, too?
When we start speculating that winter is going to be mild this year, a blizzard barrels in.
Just in case the first eight inches of snow wasn't enough, Mother Nature added two more Friday.
Notice how nice the storm made those around us? Strangers pulling cars out of snow drifts. The city offering to pick up extra trash bags.
Gives us all a warm fuzzy feeling. Be careful out there.

What do you promise yourself this new year?

I’ve not been a loyal resolver.
There have been years I made some hollow vow about eating less or exercising more. I’ve promised now and then to organize, unclutter and to finally use myriad possessions long tucked away.
One new year sparks an urge to nest. Another carries with it a determination to streamline.
One late December brought a fleeting thought of public service. Jan. 1 often arrives accompanied by a hunger for a greater understanding of spirituality.
But to say I jog headlong down the path of New Year’s Resolutions each time the calendar spins its annual 365? No.
Yet as 2011 struggles to stand on its wobbly legs like a day-old colt, an eyebrow arches.
I can lose that weight. I can change that habit. I can organize. I can reach out to others. I can open my heart to a world larger than my own.
I can find zen and straighten out my income tax receipts. I can slow down and give that still small voice a chance to be heard above a racing heart. I can read the classics and be more diligent in my battle with that soap scum on the shower stall tile.
I can do the things my soul whispers. A day at a time I can be smarter, healthier, more caring, more spiritual – more.
And if it lasts a month, a week, a day – then for a month, a week, a day I offered the world, and myself, a better me.
Happy New Year.

J.B. Bittner
Stillwater NewsPress editor

John and me

Ah now this is a Friday night. Just John Mayer and me ... and 50,000 skinny people in tight jeans and pointy boots filing into Tulsa's BOK Center. Then there are the middle-aged dads escorting their tween daughters. Cute. I'm hangin' close to them. Spiky hair scares me.

Payne County Fair

Draft horses pulling sleds of salt blocks at the Payne County Fair! This is great! These guys wrangling things are probably normal size - until they stand up next to a ginormous horse.

Hot enough for ya?

In Oklahoma we love to talk about the weather. And we are tough critics.
If it's dry we need rain. If it rains we just want to see some sunshine. The sun comes out and we're sure it's too darned hot.
OK right now it's approaching too darned hot. Fun to joke about, but the heat can be too much for some of our area residents.
Keep an eye on your neighbors, family and friends. Heat takes a greater toll on youngsters and older folks. The economic crunch has most people cutting down and cutting back.
Despite a triple-digit heat index ushering in summer, some people may not be running air conditioning because they feel they can't afford the electric bill.
There is help available. Check with the local Red Cross office. They are aware of programs.
Those who can't afford cool during our hot afternoons can borrow cool elsewhere. Why not choose the hottest part of the day to pick up groceries in a cool supermarket or browse retail shelves?
Stillwater's public library is stocked with books and other resources and can be a cool place to be in summer.
Check out other city services and centers. Get out, cool off and reap the benefit of your tax dollars.
Know someone who needs some cool? Give them a ride.